the smell of dust after rain
by lanuitestcalme
Summary: Loki never thought of himself as a guardian angel before.


**Title: the smell of dust after rain**  
><strong>Characters: Loki, Tony Stark (Iron Man)<strong>  
><strong>Pairings: slight LokiTony**  
><strong>Rating: T for imagery and themes<strong>  
><strong>Summary: And Tony lays there as the dust settles around him, and his heart has been broken one too many times tonight. <strong>  
><strong>Author's Notes: Same universe as "like dust in the wind," but you do not have to have read that one to understand this one. This begins right at the culminating battle between Tony Stark and Obadiah in <em>Iron<em>_Man_, but you do not have to have seen the movie to understand: only know that Tony and Obadiah were very close, Tony saw Obadiah as a father figure, and then Obadiah betrayed him. Yes, I know, there's a reference to _Doctor Who. _Also, I'm putting this in the "Thor" category rather than Crossovers because this is more of a character study of Loki from another character's perspective. lease read and review!**

Tony yells to his assistant, Ms. Pepper Potts, with the ferocity of a thousand storms. "Push it!" he screams, and she follows his orders, slamming her hand down on the small red button that will blow up the master Arc Reactor. Coincidentally, Tony is lying injured upon the fragile glass roof above the Arc Reactor, and sure enough, it blows up, carrying his battered body in its violence and fury. Pepper was right: he is going to die.

But it is all for a good cause, he reasons as he flies through the air, suspended in time and space. Obadiah Stane is not the man that he appeared to be for years; he is not the gentle, protective father that he pretended to be for so long. He stole one of Tony's metal suits and re-made it, and then he did the unthinkable and practically sealed Tony's fate. He took the small Arc Reactor straight out of Tony's heaving chest, basically murdering him. It was then that Tony decided that, regardless of how kind and supportive Obadiah had been in the past, he was going to die. Preferably by Tony's own hands.

And now he is falling, falling fast. His heart beats hard within his chest, and breath does not come easily to him anymore. His body thuds against the hard rooftop, dust billowing out in grey clouds around him. He shuts his eyes, blocking out the harsh lights of the buildings around him and the strange absence of sound due to the huge explosion of the Arc Reactor.

Which is why he does not notice it until it has already occurred. A cool hand brushes across his forehead, and he can just barely hear a sigh.

"Oh, Anthony," the ethereal voice says. "What have you gotten yourself into now?" Tony's eyes fly open to examine his visitor. It is Loki, his seemingly guardian angel, and he promises, really, that he would be more excited to see him if only he could move a bit.

"I saw it all, before you ask," Loki says. He kneels down beside Tony's prone body. "You were very brave, for a mortal."

Tony finally gets his muscles to respond to his wishes. "I…I guess…I had a…a death wish," he struggles to say, the words coming hesitantly to his tongue.

"No, you did not," Loki says, and there is a certain authority in his voice that Tony does not dare to question. Tony knows that the guy has some major issues, and really, he would rather not delve into those at the moment, seeing as _his__chest__is__hurting__and__oh__my__God__oh__my__God__the__blood._

Loki seems to realize this rather important fact too, and suddenly his hands are flitting all over Tony's body, bringing a relieving cold with them, like ice cream on a hot summer's day. "You are bleeding," he remarks, and Tony _really_wants to make some sarcastic comment right now, but his tongue has turned to lead in his mouth and he just wants to get out of here and get home and get to getting well again, because being shot a bunch in the chest really just isn't his thing, you know?

And then there is a sweep of cold across his chest, colder than the temperature emanating from Loki's hands. His skin feels like it is stitching itself back together, the bullet holes that had torn through his body, through the metal armor, repairing themselves instantly. It's an amazing thing, the human body. But sometimes, it needs a jumpstart like Loki's magic to get it to healing.

Once he finally feels like he can breathe in without his lungs tearing, Tony sits out. Loki slides a hand around his back to help him, always the careful one of the pair.

"Better?" Loki asks.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks," Tony replies. In the distance, he hears Pepper shouting his name, desperately calling for him through the desolation of the fallout.

"Guess that means you gotta go," Tony says resolutely, looking at Loki. He really doesn't want him to leave, but Loki tends to disappear whenever others are around, others that can take care of Tony too.

"Yes," Loki replies. "But I will not be gone for long this time."

"You mean, you're staying here for a while?"

"All of Asgard believes me to be dead, Anthony. I might as well stay here for some time," Loki replies with a trademarked grin. "I will visit you tomorrow, after Ms. Potts bandages what is left of your wounds."

Tony's Arc Reactor flutters in tandem with his heartbeat, and Loki looks down at it, his pale face bathed in the bright white light.

"Don't worry about that," Tony says. "I know what to do about it."

Loki nods and stands up, releasing Tony's back. Tony falls back against the ground, letting out a small groan. "I will wait until your assistant arrives, Anthony."

And then she arrives, running as fast as she can, given that she is wearing stiletto heels. "Tony!" she shouts, leaning over him as soon as she reaches him.

And the rain begins to fall, wetting the dust and dirt around his fallen body, and Pepper wraps her coat tighter around herself, protecting herself from the harsh fall of rain. Tony simply lies there, slowly bringing his hands to cover his Arc Reactor. He knows that it doesn't exactly do well in ice, but he has no idea how it does in rain, and he'd rather not test that today.

And then there is Loki, and Tony feels him rather than hears him above the dull roar of the rain upon the remains of the glass roof.

"Petrichor," Loki whispers in his ear. "The smell of dust after rain."

And then he is gone, the wind and the rain and the dust taking him away from Tony like a ghost walking through a wall. He knows that he is still there and that he will return, but he can no longer see him or feel his presence.

And Pepper brushes his hair from his forehead and quietly sobs, but they both know that he will be alright in the end.

Thanks, as always, go to his guardian angel.


End file.
